Ok. I know I am getting ahead of myself by asking what to dose in the tank as I haven't even put the salt in. But I want to be prepared.... Hopefully I will go ahead and order the LR today as well.

From what reading I have done, I was definitely thinking about using Kent's Zoe for vitamin dosing. Do I need any kind of supplement to sustain the LR when it has finished cycling? Second, when I go to put corals in in December, what other kinds of supplements will I need?

There are so many choices out there, it hard to tell what I need. I know I can use Kalk, but I have some problems with it. One, is that it is so caustic it has to be dripped into the tank. Two, I have to mix it up every few days. Three, it only adds calcium to the tank. I would rather have a product that adds everything I need. Is there a liquid out that would give me everything in one bottle and I could just add that to the sump?

I noticed Seachem makes a product called "Reef Complete" that maintains calcium, strontium, and magnesium. Would this be something that would be good to use?

From what I have read in this forum....the rule is to never add anything into your tank without testing for it first. Im pretty sure you don't need to dose the tank with anything for the LR, not sure there is even anything out there....The LR will be fine on its own. Not sure about all the other stuff but im sure you will get the same reply....spend money on test kits before you spend anything on additives....if your tests show you need something....then buy the additive.

I would rather have a product that adds everything I need. Is there a liquid out that would give me everything in one bottle and I could just add that to the sump?

Not trying to be a smart ***, but the answer to that is a water change. Especially in the earlier stages of the tank. Additives are absolutley unnecessary. Once the animals that use the elements become greater in number, the more necessary the need for certain types of additives.

In my own experience, the only thing I have ever needed to dose is buffer, Cacl, iodine and mag. Anything else can be made up with small regular water changes. All in one bottled product will rarely do anything if there is a heavy load in the tank. If light, then saltmix is also a much cheaper source.

In my own experience, the only thing I have ever needed to dose is buffer, Cacl, iodine and mag. Anything else can be made up with small regular water changes. All in one bottled product will rarely do anything if there is a heavy load in the tank. If light, then saltmix is also a much cheaper source.

Ahh ok. Yeah I have a good quality salt mix (Instant Ocean) and I am using about 70lbs of Aragamax Sand. I'll get a Cacl test kit later down the road and check those levels to see if I need to dose...

One question thought, Steve, why do you need to use a buffer? Does your substrate and salt mix not provide enough buffering capacity??

Sand will rarely offer enough buffering for a heavily loaded tank. I also use the argamax sugar sand and it doesn't come close to meeting the needs of my tank. Each will be different though depending on animal load. My tank needs to be dosed for alk/Ca 3-4x a week, mag 2x a month and iodine as the tests indicate which is about 2-3 times per month.